The Phantom
by Silverneko9lives0
Summary: "Your soul is a beautiful thing, child. No emperor received so fair a gift. The angels wept to-night." Warning: one-sided twincest. Takes place after the series. Johan/Nina central, Tenma/Nina on the side.
1. Johan

_**The Phantom**_

"_Your soul is a beautiful thing, child. No emperor received so fair a gift. The angels wept to-night." Warning: one-sided twincest. Takes place after the series. Johan/Nina central, Tenma/Nina on the side._

~Johan~

I lost all emotion to save my sister's heart. I am content to be a monster, inward or outward. I lost all sense of morality. I am content. I forgot what "right" and "wrong" means. Yet I am content. I cannot love anyone but Anna.

Anna. Nina.

My beautiful, sweet, adoring little sister. My other half. My reason for living. And for dying.

I turn the page.

"_Oh, tonight I gave you my soul, and I am dead."_

I pause. I glance up at the door across the street from me. Dr. Reichwein's house. "Tonight I gave you my soul, and I am dead," I mouthed. Is it me who said those words? Or is it Anna? I give my attention back to the book.

"_Your soul is a beautiful thing, child. No emperor received so fair a gift. The angels wept to-night."_

I mark my place in the book and close it, staring at the house. I see her figure in the window and assure myself I'm hiding behind the tree. No one in that house can see me if they were too look out.

Anna opens the curtains and peers down into the street, as though she sensed me. She's looking. For me? No. Dr. Tenma passes by and enters the gate. Anna leaves the window and greets him at the door.

He enters the house, I see her smile as the door closes.

In the back of my mind, I imagine what happens behind that front door. I don't know why I imagine Dr. Tenma stealing a small kiss from Anna. I don't know why this small imagined scenario makes my chest hurt.

Do I want to be greeted like that after a long time being away? To be greeted by a kiss?

My vision blurs. I can cry on whim though I feel nothing. But this isn't a predetermined action of mine. I dry my eyes with a handkerchief and open the book to a random page, just to see what awaits me.

_"You will be the happiest of women. And we will sing, all by ourselves, till we swoon away with delight. You are crying! You are afraid of me! And yet I am not really wicked. Love me and you shall see! All I wanted was to be loved for myself."_

I want to see her. Anna, my other half. That is all I ever wished for. To be reunited with my other half. I opened the book again.

Another passage, near the end read:

_"I tore off my mask so as not to lose one of her tears... and she did not run away!...and she did not die!... She remained alive, weeping over me, weeping with me. We cried together! I have tasted all the happiness the world can offer."_

Happiness? What happiness is there in this world? I have been robbed of happiness long ago. From the moment we were born, the idea of happiness had been a nonexistent reality. Happiness is something out of story books. Happiness is something I've never had.

But I believe I was able to give Anna happiness for a while at least. And again, I'll let her have her happiness.

_Oh, Anna, I am not really wicked. I am not heartless. There is something still within me that feels. Love me, and you will see._

I hear a scream from the house. A jubilant sound. What is going on in there?

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" It's Anna's voice.

Yes to what?

What?

What?

Yes to _WHAT_?

Anna, what are you saying "yes" to? Will you again break my heart? Will I again be left alone to wander this world with only death as my aim?

I distract myself by turning to another page in the book.

_"Know that it is a corpse who loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you!...Look, I am not laughing now, crying, crying for you, Christine, who have torn off my mask and who therefore can never leave me again!...Oh, mad Christine, who wanted to see me!" _

It is funny! Funny! I am the phantom. I resist all urge to shout at the house, at Anna: "You must know that I am made of death, from head to foot, and it is a corpse who loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you!"

I am a ghost. But a ghost that bleeds. A ghost who can die. Who _has _died. But has been resurrected more than once. Twice! I am a man of heaven and earth! I am flesh and blood. Am I not worthy of love? Do I not deserve pity or compassion?

I walk away, the book under my arm, thinking: _But still, everyone dies. I only choose the time and place for a few._


	2. Nina

~Nina~

Tonight I gave you my soul, and I am dead.

Where did those words come from? I shake it off and go to my window, pushing the curtains back and opening the window and glance down the street. I spot Tenma walking toward the house. He doesn't look up at my window. When he enters through the gate, I run downstairs.

"What's up?" Dieter asks, holding his soccer ball.

"Tenma's back," I tell him, passing him on the stairs. Dieter follows me, trying to beat me to the door.

I open the door with a lot of force. "Tenma! Welcome back!"

"I'm home," he says, stepping inside. I close the door and Dieter tackles him. I hug him as well. Tenma wraps his arms around us, smiling. We break the group hug and go to the living room. Dr. Reichwein is watching television.

The program cuts to a commercial for the _Phantom of the Opera_ musical playing in Berlin.

Tenma pauses, staring at the screen.

"I thought you were going to be back this morning," Dieter asked, a question on his face.

"Huh? Oh. Yes." He pulled something out of his pocket. "I took a stop somewhere. The line was long."

"Line?"

Tenma's smile widened. "You can't grow up into a fine adult without seeing at least one musical. And I heard someone got a grand grade on her graduate thesis."

I glanced at the tickets in his hand, then at the screen. "Tenma, are those tickets for…for…"

"The Phantom of the Opera?"

I nod my head.

He turns to Dieter. "I wonder what she'd do if I said no."

I don't give Dieter a chance to answer. I scream and hug Tenma tightly. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"I've seen it already and I'll be out of town that night, so it's for you, Dieter, Lotte, and Karl. The tickets are for opening night. The best seats I could get."

"I don't care! I love you, Tenma!" I kiss his cheek. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I wish you could go too, but I still love you!" I release him and run up to my room. I seize the phone and call Lotte to tell her the good news.

Lotte's a diehard _Phantom of the Opera_ fan.

I know she'll be excited and she'll never forgive me if I don't tell her. She'll never forgive Tenma for not telling her first. Bet you ten marks she'll storm here crying that Tenma's cruel for not telling her before me. After I tell Lotte, I'll call Karl and let him know to keep that night available.

The opening night is not for a couple weeks on Friday at seven o'clock.

I'm bouncing up and down with excitement. When I finally get around to telling Lotte, she screams and says she's coming over that moment. I had at least an hour to tell Karl.

He was excited, though not as much as Lotte, and said he'd talk to his dad about getting a reservation at a good restaurant before we go to the theater. And that we'd take the limo. It helps being friends with a "bocchama" (I heard Tenma call Karl that once, and that's been his nickname since).

Lotte banged on the door. Dieter answered. She ran up the stairs and seized my wrist. "We don't have much time! Come on!" She and I ran down the stairs. I, as Lotte did me, grabbed Dieter around the waist.

"Nina, I've got practice!"

"That can wait!" Lotte snapped. "We've still got to get Karl."

"Can't we shop over the weekend?" Lotte closed the door behind me and Dieter. "Tenma! Help!"

"Dieter this is more important! You have no clothes to wear to such an important event! Karl probably does, but we need him to help you find something."

"Does Karl have fashion sense?"

"No, but it improved when we were friends with Johan." I slowed my pace. Lotte kept going, not noticing that all the joy I felt had seeped away at the mention of my brother.

"It was the funniest thing ever!" Lotte went on. Dieter and I caught up with her. "While they were trying on suits, they randomly started singing _Dragostea din Tei_. It was so out of character for Johan, I couldn't stop laughing."

I thought about it, and nodded. I can't see Johan even touching an O-Zone CD.

A part of me wonders if Johan will wake up some day, but whether he will or not, I don't know. And I don't know if I ever will know. I don't know if I ever want to know. My brother is a ghost of flesh and blood…

I wonder what's more dangerous.

A ghost that can bleed or a ghost that can't.


	3. At the Opera

~At the Opera~

~Nina~

At intermission, we talked over Shirley Temples. I excused myself to get a refill. I hand my empty glass to the bartender and wait. I glance around the room.

"Oh!" the female bartender stared from me to the man beside me. "Are you two related?"

I look at him and my mouth parts.

Johan glances at me and smiles. "Anna."

"Why are you here?"

Johan glances at the woman and gently leads me away from the bar. "I'm not causing trouble. I just came to enjoy a performance. What's the crime in that?"

"You're not supposed to be here, Johan. You're supposed to be comatose. You've been comatose for the last two years—"

"So I should have stayed in a coma?"

"Preferably," I whisper. Johan is as emotionless as ever, but I feel guilt. "I'm sorry," I said. "I ought to be more happy, shouldn't I? I'm a terrible sister."

"No. You're not. I can't think of any greater happiness than to die at your hands. Yours or Tenma's."

Johan reaches to brush a strand of hair away from my eye, but I swat his hand away and take care of it myself. "Is it true you sang _Dragostea din Tei_ with Karl at a men's boutique once?"

Anyone else would have smiled. Johan couldn't help it either, though it was a tiny little smirk like the one he usually wore. "Karl won't admit to it. Lotte swears you did."

"Lotte has it on tape. She's posted it on youtube long ago. It should still be up there. That is _if _you're interested in proof that I sing and dance to O-Zone."

I can't help it. I laugh. I look away only for a moment and he's vanished into the crowd.

I don't see him again, but as I leave, I'm stopped by the valet and handed a rose with a black ribbon and a letter:

_Your soul is a beautiful thing. No emperor received so fair a gift. Heartless though I may seem, I love you, Anna. And I always will. You are my angel. ~Johan_

I'm sorry to say, I did alert the police. For Johan's sake as well as the whole country's.


End file.
